Sending a Message
The sun had sunk below the horizon, and the moon taken its place and the stars appearing in the sky in great sweeping swaths, as if painted onto the velvet darkness of the night sky with the brush of some great celestial artist, though I noticed none of this. As was usual of the darkening hour, I was lost in my own mind as I meditated and consulted with my other half from across the Dimensional Divide.
A lot had changed in the many years since that spring day, when the dreams started. At first I was simply floating in a great expanse, an endless Void, and it was there that I first came into contact with that amorphous amalgamation of shadows and hatred. In the beginning he was little more than a seething cloud of pain and rage and hate, nearly devoid of anything even remotely resembling cognizance or complex thought. But, over the course of many laborious weeks, I was able to search through him and find the many shattered pieces of his mind, and the use of my rational mind as an anchor, he and I were finally able to put him together once again. It was then that I learned that because of what we had now been through together, we were Bonded, connected at a level that was soul-deep, and we could hear one another’s thoughts in our minds, and even send physical objects to each other with a snap of our fingers. Then, I learned his name: Sombra.
And that’s when I discovered just how little I truly knew about the universe I lived in. My entire notions of reality came crashing down around me, as he told me of a whole new world, his world, of all its impossibilities and all its wonders. At first I was, naturally, rather reluctant to believe him. After all, a voice in my head that I had met in my dreams ranting and raving about magic and unicorns? I was skeptical, and more than once I seriously considered having myself examined and checked into the nearest institution for the mentally deranged. That was, until the Changes started.
At first, I didn’t know what was going on, and for a while, I panicked. After a while though, I came to realize that I wasn’t the only one who was Changeing: Sombra was as well. It was then we realized just how far our bond went. The first thing to change had been my skin. It had faded from a healthy tan indicative of my southern upbringing and into a sickly, ashen gray pallor. My finger nails had grown longer, stronger, sharper, extending well past my fingertips and darkening greatly, until they became what could only be described as scarlet talons. My hair, though still long as usual, darkened from its deep brown to a sleek and smooth black, slick and dark as oil, sprouting from my head and trailing almost like smoke down to my shoulders, and my thick goatee became darker and shot through with thin lines of silver, resembling nothing more than a dark storm cloud permanently affixed to my face. I had always been a little short, but now, at just over seven feet tall I stood a full head and shoulders over most everyone I met. My teeth changed too, becoming stronger, my canines becoming sharper and more pronounced. Perhaps most startling of all though were my eyes; they had changed from my chocolaty brown to a deep, glaring red, even the sclera changing into poisonous green, and in times of extreme emotion they would weep and seethe with baleful purple mist.
The Changes weren’t strictly physical either. My temper, which had previously been glacial and all but nonexistent had flared, suddenly becoming quick and fiery, and I found myself more prone to rage and hate, though as with anything else that had troubled me in my life before, I quickly learned to master and control my emotions, though not without a few mishaps, and no matter how hard I tried I could never seem to rid myself of the vague sense of anger that plagued me every waking moment in the back of my mind.
As soon as my body had adjusted to its new shape, my sense of ambition had practically exploded, finally giving me all the motivation I needed to finally begin creating my own personal empire and someday bring the world under my thumb as I had dreamed of since I was young. In less than year, I went from the Don of a rather small Family, to the head and founder, of a rather exclusive, extensive and secret organization. I had eyes and ears everywhere, with hands in both sides of the law, and people loyal to me in most organizations in the western world, with several in the east as well. I had political, social and economic ties all around the world, and even played a small part in the world’s current happenings. I even had contacts within more than one multinational para-military organization, all of whom were only a phone call away. I had land-holdings and estates across the world. I had influence, wealth and power, and was beholden to none save myself. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought, it was every man’s dream, even if it wasn’t quite enough for my newfound insatiable sense of ambition.
Pulling away from my own thoughts, I focused on the thought-presence of my cross-dimensional companion. [Sombra,] I Thought, [are you there?]
There was a displeased and unintelligible grumbling, along with a sense of irritation filtering down through the link, as if the dark once-Sorcerer-King had been roused from slumber before there was a coherent reply. [Aye, Victor,] Sombra grumbled, his thoughts and mind dark and filled with visions of conquests and ambitions as usual. [I am here. I was beginning to wonder when you would contact me. It seems there have been many interesting developments lately. Before we discuss the happenings of Equestria however, tell me what has happened on Earth. Were we successful in our latest endeavor?]
I couldn’t stop the smug smile I felt tugging at the corners of my lips. [Yes, indeed we were. Councilman Bujyerbub now sits on seventh seat of the council of the African Federation of Nations. Our world influence grows yet still. Perhaps one day all the nations of this world shall be as one, united under a single banner, with an end to pointless wars and wasted bloodshed, and nothing left but the stars themselves to conquer, and Man’s destiny at last be fulfilled. Let us hope that the banner that flies above the nation of Earth will be ours, Crystal King.]
I could feel the deep sense of satisfaction and almost palpable desire at the image I evoked in his mind. With an almost hungry shudder, Sombra forcefully turned his thoughts away from the delectable thought. [As enticing as such a thing is, it is to be a long time in coming. Meanwhile though, things move apace. There is talk among the nobles and foreign dignitaries of Canterlot, specifically those from the Gryphon Aeries. They whisper in the shadows, and I hear it all; they grow weary. They have heard whispers, and tales of a new nation, one Equestria has already signed treaties with. They have heard of the Earth Hive, and in the dark parts of their hearts they fear and dread it, and the frightening images and similarities of their most hated enemies its name conjures. It seems like it will not be too long now, before King Rex garners a reputation of his own, one that precedes him.]
Unconsciously, my physical body nodded. Things were moving apace indeed.
In truth, we had been keeping an eye on the King of the Earth Hive as he called himself for quite a while now. Because of the fragmented and tenuous nature of the Connection Sombra and I shared in the beginning, it took a long while before our link finalized. Because of that, Alvarium Rex was the oldest know Gatekeeper, and definitely someone worth watching. It had taken us a while to locate him, but once one knew what to look for, he wasn’t that hard to find. After all, one couldn’t simply abscond with this world’s manifestation of the night itself and hope to go completely unnoticed, and so many changelings living in one place was not exactly discreet.
Of course, I doubted he knew about me in return though. Perhaps his greatest weakness at the moment was that he operated under the assumption that for the most part, he was alone; this was proved case and point with the recent Human Gryphon Gatekeeper incident.
[So the King of the Earth Hive is becoming known.] I Thought to Sombra, [Then it seems it is finally time for us to make a move of our own. He realizes his tenuous position in the world, and is fishing for allies. Let us finally make our presence known to him, and extend an offer of alliance. We would make for powerful allies both, and he should accept readily, such a thing should be beneficial to the both of our respective interests. This world is rapidly heading to a new world order, just as it has been ever since the Gatekeeper Phenomena began, and I can tell he shall have a role to play. He won’t be the only one.] I was not my partner, and I had learned from his mistakes. Brutal conquest and enslavement was not the way, especially when gentle diplomacy works so much better. All that was needed was strength and the threat of strength, not the exercise of strength. In essence; Peace, but with a really big stick. And my knowledge, connections and resources could work better than any stick ever would.
The other end of the connection was silent for a moment, but I could feel the vaguest impressions of thoughts and images as Sombra mulled over everything in his mind. After a moment, he Thought to me, [Hmm… very well, I agree. Though, you should go to him in person, so that he does not undervalue the significance of this allegiance. We cannot allow an opportunity like this to--]
The transmission of Sombra’s thoughts were interrupted by the door to my private meditation room violently bursting open, a large heavy built man rushing through the doorway screaming, “Sir, we—“
The man was interrupted in turn by a thick spire of jagged obsidian crystal erupting from the floor in an explosion of splinters. The crystal’s wicked point rested against his throat just enough to draw a single bead of blood, which quickly ran down the cruel edges of the dark edifice. The man just stared straight ahead, utterly paralyzed with sudden fear, his eyes wide as dinner plates. Too scared to even start shaking in his boots at the closeness of his sudden near-demise, he swallowed thickly, causing a few more beads of blood to run from his neck down the black crystal.
“What did I say,” I asked clippedly, keeping a tight rein on my anger, as dark miasma spilled from my eyes, “about interrupting me while I am meditating?” The man tried to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was a fearful squawk. With a creak and a groan, the dark crystal pulled away from his neck just a little as I compressed it ever so slightly with my magic. “Speak, and you better have a damn good excuse for interrupting me.” This was why I didn’t like using Vanilla Humans in my personal entourage – they never seemed to listen.
Gulping, the man rubbed his neck gingerly with a trembling hand as he spoke quickly and in a rush, hesitant to risk my ire again, “S-sir, w-we found him, t-that guy you were looking for, Mr. Rodrigo Ramerez.”
Immediately, my entire mood did a one-eighty, as my eyes twinkled gleefully with baleful intent, leaking purple smoke all the more thickly and a wide grin split my face. [It seems we’ll have to continue this at the witching hour, Sombra. We’ve found Mr. Ramerez.] As we both stopped focusing on our connection and allowed it to fade into the background I could have sworn I heard a chuckle and a vague, wordless thought that seemed to mean something along the lines of “Have fun”.
Standing up quickly, I dusted off my custom designer Giorgeo Armani suit, allowing the black crystal threatening the man to fade away into smoke, mist and shadows. Putting on my Ray-Ban sunglasses and black fedora, my magic and my perfect mastery of shadows allowed me to enshroud my eyes in a veil of darkness impenetrable to senses both mundane and magical. Adjusting my various bejeweled golden rings and Onyx necklace, I grabbed my silver capped, gem topped black cane, turned to the man and said, “Take me to him.”
The man wasted no time in complying, leading me the many windowless corridors of my complex and up and down several flights of stairs, before stopping front of a simple steel door in the middle of a rough-hewn stone hallway. I couldn’t help but smile a little wider. This was the room my Enforcers had oh-so-lovingly dubbed, “The Interrogation Room”, because whenever someone went in there, they had always confessed by the time they left – which was usually in several pieces. Without turning to the man beside me, I dismissed him with a simple gesture of my head, and he left as quickly as he could without looking back. Standing there a moment longer, I inhaled deeply, savoring the sweet scent of pain and fear that lingered and permeated the air down here. Without further ado, I flung open the door open and strode boldly in.
The stretching rack, Spanish Donkeys, Iron Maidens and various other instruments of torture both modern and medieval had all been removed and relocated temporarily, leaving only a bare stone room with a drain in the floor’s center, a single dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling and countless stains of red on the walls, floor and even some on the ceiling. In the center of the room hung a rather scrawny shirtless man with a small silver crucifix around his neck, who was blindfolded and suspended above the floor by his wrists, which were attached to the ceiling with thick chains. His head jerked towards me as he heard the door open, and he tentatively called out, “H-hello? Is anyone there?” I was silent a moment, content to let him stew while I savored his fear.
Eventually though, I spoke. “Señor Rodrigo Ramerez,” I said, carefully and slowly enunciated each word. “You sure are a piece of work, you know that?”
My words only frightened him more as he began thrashing about and calling out, “Who is that? Who are you? S-show yourself” In response, I ripped off his blindfold, causing him to blink owlishly in the dim light. Quickly, his eyes found me blending in the gloom. “W-who are you?” he asked.
Ignoring him, I continued. “Do you know why you are here, Mr. Ramerez?” I asked.
He blinked several times in confusion before hesitantly answering, “N-No…”
“You are here, Mr. Ramerez, because of justice. Because of you, several people whom I cared for are dead, and dead by your hand Mr. Ramerez. And now justice has brought you before me.”
At this, he began to panic, thrashing violently and struggling against his bonds, screaming, “No, no, no! That’s not true, I’ve done no such thing! I’ve done only as the Lord bade me, laying wicked souls to rest! I sought out those few agents of Evil, those who had made pacts with beasts from beyond Heaven’s light, whose minds were warped and twisted like the devils they consorted with! I did all I could to exorcise the demons within them, blooding them with silver blades as they slept and burning away their flesh to expose the evil within, but they never repented! They only screamed and shrieked and clung to their pagan and heathen ways with their dying breaths!”
I had been angry since the moment I saw him, but to hear him justify the brutal murder of over thirteen different Subjects, the youngest of which was no more than eight years old, as some sort of holy religious vendetta made my blood boil.
“Enough!” I shouted, causing him to all but freeze in place. Though my volume wasn’t that great, the room still shook enough to loose several layers of dust from the ceiling and I saw a sliver of black crystal grow from the drain in the floor’s center as my magic flared in response to my growing hate before I managed to wrangle down my emotions. “People I cared about are dead, and there must be justice,” I said as I removed my hat and glasses, revealing eyes, the dark purple miasma thick and cloying as it swirled around my head like dark clouds promising an impending storm. “And I am here to see that justice is done.”
As Rodrigo Ramerez saw my more shocking features come to light he grew silent as the grave, and his whole body trembled with fear as he struggled to choke out a single word, “D-d-diablo…”
A grim smile grew across my face at his choice of words. “Diablo? No, not quite, but close enough. After all, I am the Lord of Terror,” I said as I gripped his face firmly with one hand, turning his head and forcing him to look at me. “Now, look into my eyes…” I said as I maintained eye contact with him, and pushed. Slowly, his eyes faded to green and began to emit a purple smoke much like mine.
It took only a second before the screams began.
His head jerked side to side as he thrashed about violently, foaming at the mouth. I turned away from him and walked out the door, the sounds of his shrill terror following me out into the hallway. Without looking back, I used my magic to snap his bonds, break the light, and close the steel door, shutting him away in darkness and fear induced madness. I’d have to remember to tell my staff to come back and clean up a mess in a few days, after the screaming had stopped.
As I walked down the corridor, I pulled out my phone and hit speed-dial. It was answered on the second ring by Rosaline, my personal assistant. She was a rather leggy platinum blonde Scandinavian woman whose skin shone like diamonds and eyes glittered like gems; the gift of my “Crystal Curse”, something I offered almost all of my closest followers, though few accepted. In exchange for accepting a soul-bound Geas that made them undyingly loyal and obedient to me and only me, I bestowed on them several aspects of the ancient Dark Crystal Guard that once served Sombra during his dark reign, things like diamond hard skin, unending beauty, enhanced strength and stamina, and low-level emotion magics. “Yes, Your Highness?” she answered the phone, her voice warm as honey and smooth as crystal.
“Get the private jet fueled and ready for take-off,” I instructed. “And when that’s done get on board and get some sleep. It’s a long flight to Atlanta. Make sure the Guard board as well.”
“I understand, Your Highness. Is there anything else?”
After considering it for a moment I said, “Yes. I want you to send a message ahead for me.”
“What message would that be, your Highness?”“Alvarium Rex,
I am coming. You are not alone.
~Signed, King Umbra”
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Well the synopsis got me interested enough to pt this into my read later pile. Hope this won't disappoint.
neat, so the only gatekeeper that knows of the possible apocalypse is sombra and Co?
your story is nine million nine hundred ninety-six thousand six hundred eighty words short of the 10 million word group.
4124619
So far, it seems so. Though, if they have anything to say about it won't stay that way for long. Winter is com-- er, The End is coming, and all the Gatekeepers will have a part to play, even if they don't know it yet.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
4124635
You're a bit late to the party. The 10 million word group is for users with at least 10 million words read.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
4124583
I should sincerely hope it doesn't dissappoint either.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
Well, here goes nothing!
4124673
I can't wait! If we're lucky, it might just take off. Hopefully, the Cover Art and Description are suitably epic.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
4124697 Well description is certainly epic. Cover art on the other hand. Something else would definitely be better.
4124799
I definitely tried to find something better, but after far too long trawling the internet that was the best I could find, everything else was too specific or had nothing to do with the events in the story. I might have made something myself, if I weren't so god-awful. But alas, cest la vie.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
4124646
Yes, but people don't post their 6000 word story in there. Notice the stunning number of stories?
Same with the 1 million word group, your story is the only one in there below 1 million words.
First: Dat description!
Second: This makes me slightly giddy. Can't wait to see how it pans out.
4125103
I suppose the groups just aren't quite what I remember them being. Oh well, if it really peeves you that much, I'll take it down.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
4125144
Thanks for your thoughts. I can't wait to see how it pans out either, but it's sure to be exciting.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
4125167 Don't do it! This is the only way I'll be able to find your story, because I won't remember the title(sadly).
Please, leave it there.
~ TOOWC
4125817
Sorry, but I've already taken it down from those two groups. Since from your amounts of stories followed it seems that you a strange sort of aversion to star-shaped objects, why don't you just use my user page? I've only got a few stories there.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
And favorite.
I'll be watching you, shithead. (Favorited)
You got into the popular stories box on the homepage.
I have art for you! (Just a rough sketch.)
th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2014/083/2/d/victor_divinci_rough_sketch_by_wille179-d7bhwa8.jpg
I'm planning to draw a better copy soon.
P.S. In the image, he's naked...
That was an interesting start, I'm looking forward to seeing more.
I wonder if Rex would survive being in the same room than Umbra... King of Terror, hatred, fear and other bad emotions vs King of the Changeling. It's kind of unfair
You stole my new world order idea. Lol I'm working on a cannon story for the universe where the real New world order exist.